Yukon Denali worth with blown engine

[bub]

Hey everyone, haven’t posted in a while but wanted to ask your opinion. My wife has a 2009 Yukon Denali with 150,000 miles. I started the truck up and it instantly started shaking and tapping. I turned it off and had it towed to my mechanic. The mechanic says cylinder 5 is dead. Cylinder 5 isn’t getting any spark so he tried swapping coils and that didn’t do anything. He also tested the lifters and they are all performing as they should. I don’t want to put another motor in it so my option is to sell it. The KBB on it is about $9500 in running condition so I’m wondering what it would be worth with a bad motor?
Thanks.

 

[B-train]

Depending on the condition of the trans, air shocks, struts, tires, etc I could vary quite a bit. Also if the interior is clean or not as well as the body for rust. Do you live in a salt state?

If it's clean and all the maintenance is up to date, it may be work $3500-4k for someone willing to spend the money on a motor, but that's an IF.

If it's in need of maintenance items, tires, or rusty, then you might be better off parting it out to make a few K on whatever you can sell.

This market isn't a good judge though since everything is over valued. I know back in the day (20 years ago) my dad would pick it cars that customers didn't want to fix for a few hundred dollars, maybe a couple grand to fix and flip. Again, that was money in a different, more reasonable era. Hard to say about today. Maybe others will have a better idea. Bummer about the motor.

 

[bub]

@B-train thanks for the reply. Yes it’s in pretty good condition for its age and mileage. It has some door dings and paint is fading on the roof a bit but nothing serious. No rust and undercarriage is clean. Interior is a good 7/10 with a good cleaning. Truck ran great other wise. Just had a new rear main seal and oil pan gasket installed about a month ago. All new front suspension bushings in the front within the year. The front air suspension was making noise so I did replace that with aftermarket struts that replaced the air. Tires are in good shape. So over all, the Yukon is in good shape aside from the engine. We were planning on keeping it for a while. I was thinking of starting at 5k but didn’t know if that was too much?

 

[mattbta]

Does cylinder 5 have compression? If so, seems like the spark problem could be solved. Especially if none of the lifters are stuck.

 

[bub]

Nope. No compression in cylinder 5.

 

[swathdiver]

A new motor is over $10K, a used one installed over half that.

Pull the head and oil pan and put a new piston/rings in it and drive on. This work can be done in your driveway for less than $1K in parts.

Does she run 87 or 93 in it? How long have y'all had it?

The L9H is a great motor but doesn't take kindly to low quality, low octane fuel.

 

[Geotrash]

A new motor is over $10K, a used one installed over half that.

Pull the head and oil pan and put a new piston/rings in it and drive on. This work can be done in your driveway for less than $1K in parts.

Does she run 87 or 93 in it? How long have y'all had it?

The L9H is a great motor but doesn't take kindly to low quality, low octane fuel.

Can I get an AMEN!?!?!

 

[bub]

@swathdiver unfortunately, that isn’t something I’m comfortable doing or have the knowledge of doing. This is what I’m figuring someone would be able to donor throw a junkyard motor into it. I’m just wondering what it is worth with Simone having to do that.
We bought it used with about 85k on it and have used 93 premium fuel from reputable gas stations. It was always had regularly maintenance as well while we have owned it.

 

[Geotrash]

@swathdiver unfortunately, that isn’t something I’m comfortable doing or have the knowledge of doing. This is what I’m figuring someone would be able to donor throw a junkyard motor into it. I’m just wondering what it is worth with Simone having to do that.
We bought it used with about 85k on it and have used 93 premium fuel from reputable gas stations. It was always had regularly maintenance as well while we have owned it.

Odd that it would blow a piston if you're running premium fuel. It could also be a dropped valve seat or broken valve spring. Definitely worth pulling a head. Not running with engine mechanical damage will probably fetch in the $3500 range, depending on condition. I'm curious how he 'tested' the lifters.

 

[avalonandl]

You probably dropped a valve. Rebuilt motors are available. Do a search.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

I don't know a darn thing, but I would say that it is more likely to have a dropped/damaged valve than it is that the piston damaged.

Stop guessing and pull the head above cylinder 5 and you will learn very quickly what the problem is. If you can prove what the problem is to a prospective buyer your odds of making a good sale will increase.

 

[swathdiver]

You guys are probably right about the valve. That happens a lot more frequently than the pistons! I always think of the worst things first! Luckily, the guys here set me straight!

A leakdown test will confirm this. That's just a few hundred bucks to fix.

@bub

Fixing the engine is a lot less expensive than dropping in a new one IF the shop is not lazy and has the know how.

Good to hear about the fuel used. Have two of those glorious motors in my driveway and they get fed 93 or E85, lots of it!

We know that the '07s and '08s had a tendency to break the #7 or #8 valve springs above 160K and they can drop a valve seat when overheated.

Have the guy do a proper leak down test on number 5 or stick his bore scope camera in the spark plug hole and literally "see" what the problem is.

Where in Jersey are you? We have a couple of guys on here from the Garden State.

 

[Doubeleive]

the bad news is it's worth $350 to "maybe" $500 to a junkyard so anything over that, that you can get for it is a win
otherwise if you have a place to put it while you list the parts on it and slowly sell them off and then scrap it.
either way you need to have the title in the end.

 

[Sam Harris]

You can ship me that engine for proper disposal. I’ll make sure she gets a good home.

 

[bub]

Thanks for the advice everyone!
My mechanic confirmed that the piston was damaged. First, he tried seeing if it was a spark issue and it wasn’t. Then he pulled the valve covers to look at the lifters and see if they were opening and closing correctly as well as performed a compression leak down test.
So, what everyone is saying is that it can definitely be fixed by someone knowing what they’re doing. Unfortunately, I don’t have that knowledge or time on my hands. It’s my wife’s vehicle and needs it for work everyday. I guess I’m just trying to see what a fair price of what the Yukon is worth for all parties.

 

[avalonandl]

Jasper engins

 

[tbone911]

Going through the same thing with my 2011 Denali. The value of the vehicle (clean) is much higher than what you quote. I've got a local shop that is the recommended shop for Jasper who is going to do it for me. It's got a 6.2L so it will cost me an arm & TWO legs but I've gotten 205,000 miles out of it so I'll flip a reman motor into it and try for another 200K, this time with the AFM delete. Fraser & Jasper were the two best reman options. Don't bother with a new 6.2L, nobody has them.

 

[91RS]

Take it to a real shop that will actually diagnose the dang thing…

 

[petethepug]

Goodnesses! Why hasn’t someone posted the 'L94 to L96 engine swap thread'
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/l94-to-l96-engine-swap.138093/

Especially the Denali trim with leather & heated seats. Pick the right year L96 out of a 1/2 or 3/4 ton and you’ll get near the same hp but it’ll run on regular and e85.

I love playing LEGO’s with GM truck parts.